Mississippi's craft-beer culture is small but growing. The state has around 20 breweries, with more coming.

In June, Jesse Houston at Saltine Oyster Bar put together a beer dinner, which was the first one Jackson had ever had. He partnered with Phillip Esteban of Cork and Craft and Mike Arquines of Mostra Coffee and the LAB Dining Sessions in San Diego for the dinner. Esteban and Arquines created a menu based on Mississippi craft beer and menu ingredients with a San Diego twist.

Phillip Esteban

This was the men's first time in Jackson, so BOOM Jackson sat down before the dinner to talk to them about Jackson's food and beer culture. Here's what we learned.

Esteban: I find it very similar. I think the great thing that Jackson has is an identity in terms of what food is, and how they like food. ... A lot of people (in San Diego) are not from San Diego. It's a tourist town. People go in, people go out. When you ask people, "Where do you take someone in San Diego?", it's taco shops. Tacos and burritos. I mean, that is a cuisine, but it's not really San Diego's. It's Mexico's; it's Tijuana's, which is right on the border as well. But the great thing about Jackson is it has its own identity; it has so much, like, history and culture—the styles of food and what people grow up (with).

On the cityis beer scene:

Arquines: I think we're just excited about the whole scene here, whether it's beer or food, with what Jesse and the other chefs are doing here in town. (With beer) there's restrictions on certain distribution and "can't do this, can't do that," but I think it will eventually work itself out, (and) everyone will be able to experience craft beer ... how we can experience it in San Diego, on a smaller level, but at the same time, it's a start. It's starting to build up ... with Lucky Town, Southern Prohibition. I think they're great, pretty good starting points for developing a great craft-beer scene.